Wrexham produced a strong performance on Sunday afternoon as Phil Parkinson’s side picked up a 0-0 draw at Bolton Wanderers.
Phil Parkinson will have been looking for his defence to tighten up ahead of the trip to Bolton Wanderers.
Wrexham beat Wycombe Wanderers 3-2 to open the new League One season but then lost 4-2 at Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup.
Five gaols scored in two games was a decent start, but Parkinson will not have been pleased with six goals conceded.
Wrexham looked like a team who didn’t want to concede a goal against Bolton and Parkinson will have been delighted with the clean sheet in a 0-0 draw.
Maybe Wrexham could have been a little more dangerous going forward – Gareth Ainsworth has slammed the set-piece quality – but this was a decent point.
Sky Sports pundit on Arthur Okonkwo
The main man in the Wrexham draw was goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo.
The summer signing from Arsenal made a smart save early on to deny Aaron Collins before tipping over a Josh Sheehan free kick.
Okonkwo denied Dion Charles low down before tipping a deflected Charles strike wide with a smart save.
The Wrexham goalkeeper was perhaps a little fortunate as he completely lost the flight of a corner which Bolton almost scored from, but his general performance was superb.
Okonkwo was praised by Sam Parkin after the game and fellow pundit Curtis Davies has joined in.
Speaking on Sky Sports (18/08, 5pm), Davies praised Okonkwo for taking the leap and leaving Arsenal for Wrexham.
Davies hailed Okonkwo for commanding his area and backed him for a ‘bright future’ having impressed so much in a Wrexham shirt.
“I think fair play to him first and foremost for making the decision to leave Arsenal and join the Wrexham project as he called it,” said Davies. “A couple of those saves are we believe he should make, but it is the commanding of his box, it’s the fact that he can use his feet. He can do it all. He can actually use his hands, he commands his box, and at such a young age, 22, especially for a keeper, he is going to have a bright future ahead of him,” he added.
Okonkwo on James McClean criticism
Okonkwo looks to be the full package.
Young, popular with the fans, commanding in his area and a fine shot stopper whilst being a permanent Wrexham player.
This was a real coup for Wrexham over the summer but James McClean has seemingly pointed out one flaw.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle at Bolton, Okonkwo admitted that McClean is ‘always’ telling him to improve his kicking.
McClean values Okonkwo’s shot-stopping over his ability with the ball at his feet but will seemingly persist with poking fun at Okonkwo moving forward.
“He always tells me that, he always gives me something,” said Okonkwo.
“As long as he’s good with his hands, that’s all that matters,” added McClean.
McClean and Wrexham fans know that Okonkwo is something special and if he can add more quality with his feet, Wrexham will have a real star in goal.